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Saturday, May 24, 2014

Anthony Bourdain Discovers The "MUCH MORE TO MISSISSIPPI" In Parts Unknown Documentary

Recently, Mississippi was the point of interest for a CNN documentary in Anthony' Bourdain's Parts Unknown series. I was thrilled !. I was thinking, "Good!!! Maybe someone ELSE will shed some positive light into the darkness in the minds of most people, regarding my beloved Mississippi...and MAYBE they will listen ! "Of course, I had no idea if it would turn out to be more positive than negative...But, I was hopeful."

Anthony Bourdain is an American chef, author, and
television personality. He is known for his 2000 book Kitchen
Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and in 2005 he
began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure
programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and The Layover. In 2013, he
joined CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

One of the preview ads reads: What does a world traveler like Anthony Bourdain think of Mississippi?
Besides the fact he never did consider stepping foot in the state, but
then discovered some of the last truly great American institutions.
WATCH Bourdain's show "Parts Unknown" TONIGHT on CNN at 8pm (CST)

Anthony is from New York City and in a blog post he
acknowledged the fact that most of what he thought, had heard or knew
about Mississippi was negative. He wrote:
"Let me be honest about this right up front: before I started traveling
the world extensively, seeing many foreign countries and cultures very
different than my own, I would never even have considered visiting
Mississippi.
As a New Yorker, with the drearily predictable worldview of my tribe, I
took a dim view of Mississippi. Mississippi was the deep South. It was
where they shot Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in “Easy Rider”, wasn' t
it? The history was not pretty—a fact reinforced by just about every
film ever set in the state. It’s near the poorest performer on every
metric of a state’s health: income, education, healthcare. "

Mr. Bourdain was SO correct in stating that the negative, ugly images
are the ones that are reinforced by just about every film ever set in
the state.
Actually, almost everything that anyone hears in the media is
overwhelmingly negative, negative and more negative.

At the beginning of the documentary, many disturbing
images of Mississippi's past were flashed on the screen.
Sadly, these images are burned into the collective psyche of the world
and are all that most Americans and outsiders hold on to about
Mississippi. It almost seems that there is a belief that there is no room left for
discussion or consideration of anything else on the subject.

About the negatives, he states: "That's all I knew
about Mississippi...and it never occurred to me to look further"
Anthony wrote in a promotional entry:
I have long since learned to find myself comfortable in as “foreign” an
environment as Saudi Arabia, Liberia, or Cambodia. Why can’t I get to
know and love this part of my own country? Particularly when what we
love about our country—what is undeniably great about America, its most
powerful and persuasive export and gift to the world—comes from the
state of Mississippi. It changed the world like nothing else American.
( the music: blues and rock and roll )
As the journey begins, he asks, "Why can't I love this place" ?

I understand the question. It is generally, SUCH an unpopular stance to show love for Mississippi.

He begins in Jackson, the capitol of Mississippi, with a walk down Farish Street. He spent much of the time in various parts of the Delta and in Oxford.
Some of the topics that he explores throughout the documentary were:
Soul Food ...Southern Food....Country Cooking,
Juke Joints, Blues, The Delta
Sense of Community
The strong literary legacy
Oxford..Faulkner..Writers..The Square .

All throughout , there was a strong emphasis on our
music and our food.
Being a chef and a food, connoisseur he was definitely in the right
place.
Traveling in Mississippi, you KNOW he did a lot of eating !
He loved the hot tamales and even ventures to eat a pig ear sandwich !
and said: It’s everything...we love about bacon, the texture...mix of
fatty, lean...Oh that’s good!"-

Of course, he only scratched the surface of all that Mississippi has to
offer
Overall, I enjoyed the show and said so. I definitely thought that it
was more positive than negative.
One of my Facebook friends commented on one of my posts:
I personally was a little offended by the "negativism". He could have
done a better show being more positive about MISSISSIPPI! It's no wonder
we can't get out of the past, no one lets us! My reply:|
I know what you mean .
Overall, I was pretty pleased. It could have been MUCH MUCH worse ..as
it usually is!!! I guess we can be thankful for small favors because he
did highlight some good things! Few do !
So you see EXACTLY why I do what I do ..and am SO passionate about it.

As soon as it ended my husband said,
"How can you cover Mississippi without covering Tupelo...Elvis" ?
(Proud wife moment )
I smiled and thought to myself: "He has been taught so well..and knows just what to say !"

PND: You know the story of how we had a heart to
heart talk a few weeks into our marriage where I told him ..if our
relationship was going to stay on track
there were two things he had to KNOW/REMEMBER... #1 I'm a STAR (Yes, Me...PND) #2 Elvis is still the King
Of course, Elvis was not left out when they were discussing the music.
And, near the end of the documentary when he was in Oxford talking to a
group of writers, he asked..If there were a statue or monument erected
to represent and symbolize Mississippi...who or what would it be .
They all said in unison:
Elvis !

Following the show, in a post on his blog Anthony wrote:
We sure as Hell didn’t “explain” Mississippi in this episode. I doubt I
left the state much smarter than I entered it. It’s not a representative
overview of “what you should know or see while in Mississippi”. But I
hope that viewers will get a taste of a uniquely beautiful place –where
some of the last of some truly great American institutions are still
alive. Where you can hear the blues performed where it was born—in
exactly the same surroundings, the same kind of bar, as when it all
began. Where you can have an irony free pigs ear sandwich that will make
you weep for joy.

*Mississippi*

Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum - Vicksburg MS

About Me

Mississippi Author and Poet Patricia Neely-Dorsey , is a
1982 graduate of Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. She received a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Psychology from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. She
is the author of two books of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-and
My Magnolia Memories and Musings.

She calls both books a celebration
of the south and things southern. Using childhood memories, personal thoughts and
dreams, the author attempts to give a positive glimpse into the southern way of
life.

Patricia currently lives in Tupelo
with her husband James, son Henry and Miniature Schnauzer ,
Happy.